ORLANDO, Fla. -- The Miracle on Ice in the midst of the Cold War. The police and firefighters parading the tattered World Trade Center flag through the stadium in Salt Lake City. They are two indelible Olympic moments that show how the games can bring America together when things are at their worst -- the sporting equivalent of a warm blanket and a bowl of chicken soup when the nation is down. With the uncertain economy bringing a sense of despair and anger throughout the United States, that's one of a handful of reasons that leaders in the Olympic movement aren't as worried about their future as some others in the sports world.

Here's a book title you won't be seeing soon: The Joy of Being a Referee. These are not salad days for those who blow whistles, drop flags or wear chest protectors. Same for those policing other sports, even those sitting in tall chairs and getting suntans at tennis matches. It isn't just the Tim Donaghy saga. Yes, he poisoned the pool and got us all thinking about the fragile line we walk by trusting the people in charge of our games.

In 2003, Mike Babcock was a young unknown coach who led the Mighty Ducks to an unexpected run to the Stanley Cup finals. Once there, Babcock's underdog Ducks played well but lost to the New Jersey Devils in seven games. Fast-forward to today and Babcock is back in the Cup finals. Only this time, Babcock is now a postseason veteran coaching the Detroit Red Wings, an original NHL franchise loved by Las Vegas oddsmakers. The Red Wings, who have not won a Stanley Cup championship since 2002, have been placed as -165 favorites to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins (+135)

Now that the NBA playoffs have reached the conference finals, some basketball bettors looking for more action have turned to wagering on halves and even quarters. For example, for tonight's Game 2 between Detroit and Boston, the Celtics (-110) are favored by two points over the Pistons (+120) for the first half. So if Boston leads by more than two points at halftime, a bettor would need to bet $110 to win $100 on the Celtics. But if Detroit is ahead or trails by less than two points at the break, a $100 wager on the Pistons would pay $120.

First of all, thanks for all your support, it really has been unbelievable. We have been aware of various rumors floating around and so I am going to update everyone as often as possible. . . . First, he has suffered a very serious spinal injury. He has crushed his third, fourth and fifth cervical vertebrae and consequently suffered some damage to his spinal chord.

FOR America's big-league sports, L.A. was a distant outpost for the first half of the 20th century, impressive for an off-season vacation, impractical as a home base. Before jet travel, any team moving to the West Coast would have presented a scheduling nightmare. The Rams, who played only once a week, were the first to make the leap, coming in the 1940s. The Dodgers followed in the late 1950s, the Lakers not until 1960. But boxing was different. Unencumbered by the need to regularly transport a full team a thousand miles or more, boxing found its way here even before the start of the last century.

South Carolina, which knocked off No. 12 Florida, 30-22, on Saturday, has won five consecutive Southeastern Conference games. Last week first-year Coach Steve Spurrier said, "God has been smiling on the Gamecocks." Reggie Hayes of the Fort Wayne (Ind.) News-Sentinel subsequently wrote: "When contacted for comment, God denied any favoritism and speculated that Spurrier was referring to himself in the third person."

She is already sky high, and beginning today, when she begins playing the U.S. Women's Open, Annika Sorenstam will discover how success looks at 5,280 feet. At Cherry Hills Country Club in the suburbs, Sorenstam will set out to win her third major championship of the year and keep alive her goal of winning all four, something no woman has done. So why isn't there any more buzz? If Tiger Woods were on this kind of mission, they would be naming streets, candy bars, schools and babies after him.

Right after faulting us for making "gods of men," Elizabeth Kaye notches up the hero-worship herself by calling Kobe Bryant "an artist" ("Kobe's Second Act," Oct. 31). It made me wonder where the line is drawn--not between sports and art, which is too obvious to warrant explanation, but between simple, honest admiration of sports figures and the obsequious, ridiculous adulation that Kaye practices even as she condemns it. But it gets worse. She then asserts that "selfishness and arrogance are job qualifications for an artist" such as Bryant.